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Sprint Cup
CUP: Pit-Road Speeds Will Be Watched At BMS
NASCAR changes pit-road speeding lines at Bristol after Brad Keselowski’s advantage last year...
Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, looks on in the garage area during qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. (Photo: Getty Images)
Jeff Gordon didn’t have to lobby NASCAR to change the timing lines on pit road at Bristol Motor Speedway after Brad Keselowski sped legally through several pit stalls on his way to the victory last August.
NASCAR officials heard everyone talking about it after the race and had already decided that changes would come in March.
When the Sprint Cup Series returned to Bristol, drivers were greeted with additional timing lines that increased the pit-stall zones from two on each side of the track to four on each side of the track.
“The sincerest form of flattery in this sport is having a rule created for you,” Keselowski quipped Friday at the track.
Pit road speeds are determined by average time spent in a timing zone. So when a driver pits, the time spent in the pit box is included as part of that pit zone’s average time, which allows a driver to speed in or out of his pit box because the average speed would be below the maximum.
Keselowski had a stall last year just beyond a timing line and after his pit stop, he could run above speed by 10 pit stalls before hitting the next timing line. He estimated he was going more than 70 mph – twice the 35-mph speed limit.
Now there are no more than six pit stalls separated by a timing line and he likely wouldn’t be able to go that fast.
“It evens the advantages and disadvantages of pit road out, for sure,” Keselowski said. “More importantly and what shouldn’t get lost in it is it makes it safer for the crew members that work on pit road.”
Gordon was critical of the advantage that Keselowski had last year with his pit stall but didn’t go to NASCAR because virtually every racing media outlet wrote about it.
He said the new configuration still has some slight advantages.
“There is no track that we should go to this day and age that there should be that big of an advantage in certain pit stalls,” Gordon said. “We all know track position is important, qualifying is important, and it still will be. We’re going to put a lot of effort into that.
“But it’s nice to know that no matter where we qualify; at least on pit road we should be able to have a much fairer pit stall location. We had such a great car here last time, and it truly was just lost coming off of pit road, and at no fault of my pit crew.”
It’s been an issue at Bristol beyond just last August, Gordon said.
“I’m just surprised it took that long,” Gordon said. “It’s been happening here for a while. It’s just a shame it took that long. I’m glad that they finally did address it.”
Bristol has a complicated pit road. Under caution, all drivers enter in Turn 2 and exit in Turn 1. Under green, drivers enter and exit on the side of the track where their pit is located.
There are 14 pit-road timing lines – two at the entrance and exit of both the backstretch and frontstretch pits. After the fourth or fifth stall in on each side has a timing line, then there are lines every six stalls.
“It’s to try to make it more equal for everybody,” NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Director John Darby said.
Keselowski believes that it’s more a safety issue than eliminating advantages.
“Racing has never been fair,” Keselowski said. “If we wanted it to be fair, we’d all run [equally-made] IROC cars. That fair bull doesn’t go very far with me. It isn’t very fair that that group over there [at Hendrick] has $30 million more in sponsorship than anybody else either, but you don’t hear me [complaining] about it.”
The drivers seem happy that that it will be difficult to get much of an advantage under the new configuration.
“Whenever you can keep the playing field even on pit road is a good thing, especially at a track this small with a pit road speed that is slow,” said Roush Fenway Racing’s Matt Kenseth.
“There were a handful of boxes that had humongous advantages over others and I think that that’s going to change that quite a bit,” Denny Hamlin said.
SceneDaily.com • Some NASCAR stars not a fan of open drivers meetings
NASCAR officials heard everyone talking about it after the race and had already decided that changes would come in March.
When the Sprint Cup Series returned to Bristol, drivers were greeted with additional timing lines that increased the pit-stall zones from two on each side of the track to four on each side of the track.
“The sincerest form of flattery in this sport is having a rule created for you,” Keselowski quipped Friday at the track.
Pit road speeds are determined by average time spent in a timing zone. So when a driver pits, the time spent in the pit box is included as part of that pit zone’s average time, which allows a driver to speed in or out of his pit box because the average speed would be below the maximum.
Keselowski had a stall last year just beyond a timing line and after his pit stop, he could run above speed by 10 pit stalls before hitting the next timing line. He estimated he was going more than 70 mph – twice the 35-mph speed limit.
Now there are no more than six pit stalls separated by a timing line and he likely wouldn’t be able to go that fast.
“It evens the advantages and disadvantages of pit road out, for sure,” Keselowski said. “More importantly and what shouldn’t get lost in it is it makes it safer for the crew members that work on pit road.”
Gordon was critical of the advantage that Keselowski had last year with his pit stall but didn’t go to NASCAR because virtually every racing media outlet wrote about it.
He said the new configuration still has some slight advantages.
“There is no track that we should go to this day and age that there should be that big of an advantage in certain pit stalls,” Gordon said. “We all know track position is important, qualifying is important, and it still will be. We’re going to put a lot of effort into that.
“But it’s nice to know that no matter where we qualify; at least on pit road we should be able to have a much fairer pit stall location. We had such a great car here last time, and it truly was just lost coming off of pit road, and at no fault of my pit crew.”
It’s been an issue at Bristol beyond just last August, Gordon said.
“I’m just surprised it took that long,” Gordon said. “It’s been happening here for a while. It’s just a shame it took that long. I’m glad that they finally did address it.”
Bristol has a complicated pit road. Under caution, all drivers enter in Turn 2 and exit in Turn 1. Under green, drivers enter and exit on the side of the track where their pit is located.
There are 14 pit-road timing lines – two at the entrance and exit of both the backstretch and frontstretch pits. After the fourth or fifth stall in on each side has a timing line, then there are lines every six stalls.
“It’s to try to make it more equal for everybody,” NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Director John Darby said.
Keselowski believes that it’s more a safety issue than eliminating advantages.
“Racing has never been fair,” Keselowski said. “If we wanted it to be fair, we’d all run [equally-made] IROC cars. That fair bull doesn’t go very far with me. It isn’t very fair that that group over there [at Hendrick] has $30 million more in sponsorship than anybody else either, but you don’t hear me [complaining] about it.”
The drivers seem happy that that it will be difficult to get much of an advantage under the new configuration.
“Whenever you can keep the playing field even on pit road is a good thing, especially at a track this small with a pit road speed that is slow,” said Roush Fenway Racing’s Matt Kenseth.
“There were a handful of boxes that had humongous advantages over others and I think that that’s going to change that quite a bit,” Denny Hamlin said.
SceneDaily.com • Some NASCAR stars not a fan of open drivers meetings
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